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Do we have any proper plans for this desk? How many drawers, etc? -- 75.28.165.32 22:32, 12 August 2006 (UTC)
There is some kind of mistake, under the HISTORY section and more particularly "A gift to the Queen", the sentence "The queen keeps it in Buckingham Palace in England." is wrong ... she keeps what in the Buckingham Palace??? The ship??? —Preceding
unsigned comment added by
62.103.212.80 (
talk) 12:26, 4 November 2008 (UTC)
I saw in Time Magazine today that FDR had added a trap door to the desk, though I could find nothing about this anywhere on Wikipedia. If this is in fact part of the desk I think this would make a great addition to this entry and possibly that of the Oval Office DegenFarang ( talk) 13:03, 18 November 2008 (UTC)
THARE WERE ONLY 5 PEOPLE —Preceding
unsigned comment added by
99.226.209.163 (
talk) 13:03, 9 November 2009 (UTC)
The article says that George H. W. Bush moved the desk out of the Oval Office, but later says that the desk has remained in the Oval Office since Carter's presidency. I don't know which is correct, but it should be fixed. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.218.195.141 ( talk) 12:13, 26 October 2009 (UTC)
The article claims that "The relationship between Britain and America was at a breaking point when Buddington salvaged Resolute. They were on the brink of their third war. President Pierce addressed Congress to say he had ceased to have diplomatic relations with Britain." Not only is this language un-encyclopedic, I can't find any references to these seemingly very noteworthy events elsewhere, such as on the United Kingdom – United States relations or Franklin Pierce pages. Definitely could use a few citations at least. Brian Tiemann ( talk) 01:08, 20 October 2010 (UTC)
Seems fitting that since Mrs. Kennedy had the Resolute Desk moved to the Oval Office, there should be included the famous picture of President Kennedy at the desk, with his son JFK Jr. using the lower door underneath it to peek out. Is there a reason this photo hasn't been included?
http://iconicphotos.wordpress.com/2010/09/03/john-f-kennedy-jnr-under-the-resolute-desk/
Gar2chan ( talk) 06:56, 22 February 2012 (UTC)
Does anyone know the dimensions of the desk. It would be nice if they were listed.-- Jamo58 ( talk) 09:05, 10 March 2013 (UTC)
The article states -- incorrectly, I believe -- that Queen V. had a similar "partners desk" made for herself. There are two "Resolute" desks of hers known, photos of one of which are in the Royal Collection -- it has a similar brass plaque to the Oval Office one -- the other was a small folding writing desk formerly used on the Royal Yacht and now in storage in Portsmouth. These, and the Grinnell desk at the New Bedford Whaling Museum, are the only other desks made from Resolute's timbers besides the Presidential one. Clevelander96 ( talk) 23:57, 21 May 2016 (UTC)
...it was Jackie Kennedy who brought the desk into the Oval Office...
That desk seems too heavy for Mrs. Kennedy personally to have brought it anywhere, so I reworded that sentence to "...it was Jackie Kennedy who had the desk brought into the Oval Office..." ☺ Dick Kimball ( talk) 16:41, 16 December 2016 (UTC)
Some confusion in this section about the various replica versions. Rewrote to clarify and added a paragraph on companies offering reproductions for sale. Relbats ( talk) 04:05, 28 March 2017 (UTC)
The article states that FDR had a panel added to conceal his leg braces. But the article makes no mention of FDR's use of the desk. As President, FDR used the Hoover desk in the Oval Office. So where did FDR use this desk? Could he have had it in the President's Study? Or did he have another office, like Nixon? — MiguelMunoz ( talk) 20:52, 7 August 2017 (UTC)
The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page has been nominated for speedy deletion:
You can see the reason for deletion at the file description page linked above. — Community Tech bot ( talk) 03:21, 12 June 2019 (UTC)
I found this quote in Carter's autobiography. [1] Maybe we can use part of it.
On the first day... I sat down at the President's desk and looked it over. It was a surprise to see that it was not the same one which had been photographed when John Kennedy was there, with his little son peeping out from the door underneath. My first decision: to replace this desk with the one I remembered.
— Preceding unsigned comment added by GA-RT-22 ( talk • contribs) 18:22, 3 December 2020 (UTC)
I put this in, without the quote. It's slightly at odds with our other source that says he made the choice over breakfast from a list of available desks. Maybe he went to the Oval Office first, decided he wanted JFK's desk, then had an aide bring in the list of desks while he ate breakfast? I think the interesting part is that he said it was his first decision. GA-RT-22 ( talk) 16:01, 18 January 2021 (UTC)
References
It would be nice if we could firm up the 19th century locations a bit. There is a photo of the desk in the Yellow Oval Room in 1886, then the 1899 photo appears to be in the Treaty Room, or at least not in the Oval Room. I believe the desk did not actually move in 1902; rather, the President's new office in the West Wing was opened, so what had been called the President's office now became his study.
I have so far been unable to find sources to verify any of this. GA-RT-22 ( talk) 21:41, 19 December 2020 (UTC)
@ GA-RT-22: Yeah I was unsure, I know that the Lincoln suite was used as an office for a while but not sure what the source means by "President's office" vs. "President's Study." I'll keep looking but my week is a bit crazy so I'm not sure how much ill actually get to.-- Found5dollar ( talk) 17:14, 20 December 2020 (UTC)
Tenant | years in office | Location/ image | referenced location in article |
---|---|---|---|
Rutherford B. Hayes | 1877-1881 | 1880, on exhibit to tourists in the Green Room "for a while before ordering it taken upstairs to his office". (Seale, William. The President's House. White House Historical Association and the National Geographic Society: 1986. p 494 & 1111) | President's Office Second floor of the White House |
James A. Garfield | 1881 | ||
Chester A. Arthur | 1881-1885 | ||
Grover Cleveland | 1885-1889 | White House, It's Historic Furnishings... pp. 169-170. his office( Yellow Oval Room) 1886 | |
Benjamin Harrison | 1889-1893 | [2] Office ( Lincoln Bedroom) this was written by Harrison but in 1897... Thsi cite says it was moved from yellow oval room to lincoln bedroom in October 1890. [3] pp. 223-224 | |
Grover Cleveland | 1893-1897 | [4] 1890, [5] 1896 President's Library or President's Room ( Yellow Oval Room) | |
William McKinley | 1897-1901 | Seale, William. The President's House. White House Historical Association and the National Geographic Society: 1986. p 631. Presidents office ( Yellow Oval Room) [6] 1900 President's Room (but cant say for sure what the room is now) 1899 Lincoln Bedroom | |
Theodore Roosevelt | 1901-1902 | [7] 1901 President's Room ( Lincoln Bedroom) | |
Theodore Roosevelt | 1902-1909 | Seale, William. The President's House. White House Historical Association and the National Geographic Society: 1986. p 690 "President's Study" [8] Den ( Treaty Room). After McKim Mead and White's renovation the former cabinet room became Roosevelt's den where Edith Roosevelt placed the desk | President's Study (now
Yellow Oval Room) Second floor of the White House |
William Howard Taft | 1909-1913 | Treaty Room | |
Woodrow Wilson | 1913-1921 | Seale, William. The President's House. White House Historical Association and the National Geographic Society: 1986. p. 801, 812-813. The President's Study. ( Treaty Room). "The Drawer" of the desk is where important communications were placed if somethign went down between end of the day and Wilson starting work again. | |
Warren G. Harding | 1921-1923 | ||
Calvin Coolidge | 1923-1929 | ||
Herbert Hoover | 1929-1933 | [9] image 14. rectangular room with two windows facing Washington Monument ( Lincoln Bedroom? or possibly Treaty Room) | |
Franklin D. Roosevelt | 1933-1945 | [10] Oval Study ( Yellow Oval Room) | |
Harry S. Truman | 1945-1948 | [11] Oval Study ( Yellow Oval Room) |
The Smithsonian seems to think the desk was given to them in 1964, and subsequently loaned to Carter for use at the White House. [12] Maybe it doesn't really matter since it's all part of the US govt. GA-RT-22 ( talk) 18:28, 3 January 2021 (UTC)
I commented out the sentence: "This presidential seal would later be changed by Harry S. Truman to have the eagle turned towards the olive branch in the right talon instead." I checked the pics of the given source, but there is no one with showing that. Also, Obama sitting at the desk, with eagle facing to the right talon, so it would mean, after Truman sy changed it back... Does not seem true, that the eagle was ever changed. JSoos ( talk) 12:01, 7 January 2021 (UTC)
@ Found5dollar: Please give better source, and explain how it was changed back! JSoos ( talk) 20:44, 7 January 2021 (UTC)
@ Found5dollar: I tried. Yes I misunderstood. Mainly because it said "This seal" was changed and not generally the seal. JSoos ( talk) 21:21, 7 January 2021 (UTC)
So I've been trying to research who William Evenden was but am coming up a little empty beyond "he worked at Chatham Dockyards as a joiner and made the desk." The only other reference I can find to a William Evenden at Chatham is from a labor movement speech on December 13, 1836 at the dockyards. [14] [15] That William Evenden spoke about the problems with the class system and the need for a living wage for all that worked at the dockyard. Both of these William Evendens have the same name, worked at the same dockyard, and had the same job being a joiner. The issue is that the speech and making the desk happened 43 years apart. If this is the same William Evenden I think it bears mention in the article that he held these views, but 43 years is a long time to be working in a dockyard, especially in the 1800's. Do we think it is the same person? Thoughts?-- Found5dollar ( talk) 16:00, 17 January 2021 (UTC)
I just removed this image added by Randy Kryn to the article. As i have been curating which images to include of the desk I have been looking for images that 1)show the desk in different locations 2)show the desk from different angles and 3)show the desk at different moments important in the history of the object. This image was placed directly above another one showing the side of the desk at almost the exact same angle, there are already 4 other images of the desk in the Oval Office, and there is no connection between this moment of talking with astronauts and the history or meaning of the desk. Also, the placement of the image shifts down the image below it causing text sandwiching. per MOS:SANDWICH "Multiple images can be staggered right and left. However, avoid sandwiching text between two images that face each other; or between an image and infobox, navigation template, or similar." These reasons lead me to believe this image, while a nice picture, adds nothing to the article and actually takes away from it's legibility.-- Found5dollar ( talk) 20:35, 17 January 2021 (UTC)
Unless other reasoning can be found, I will remove this image on or after January 20th, the last day Trump is in office, as the only described reason to keep it included is because Trump is the current president. This argument is no longer valid once he is no longer president. Found5dollar ( talk) 15:25, 18 January 2021 (UTC)
The plaque is starting to bother me. If you look at the intricate carving, it seems unlikely that they would have moved the plaque. It would have meant destroying the carving on one side to make a recess for the plaque, and producing new carving on the other side. It seems more likely that the entire piece was swapped, or even more likely that the desk was simply turned around, given that the two sides are nearly identical.
If you look at the Taft photo, it sure looks like he had the desk set up so he could sit on the plaque side. And John Hay is clearly sitting on the plaque side in File:John Hay signs Treaty of Paris, 1899.JPG.
The problem with the theory that the plaque stayed and the desk swapped sides is that the door is clearly on the plaque side in the JFK Jr photo, but the door is on the non-plaque side in the Smithsonian photo. So if the plaque didn't move, the door had to. GA-RT-22 ( talk) 22:18, 17 January 2021 (UTC)
I just came across The Button: President Biden has button used to order Diet Coke removed from Oval Office’s Resolute Desk Kind of interesting. But I'm inclined to say it's too trivial to mention in the article. GA-RT-22 ( talk) 13:55, 22 January 2021 (UTC)
With all the hullabloo about the Diet Coke button, do we start a new section in this article about objects on the desk? This button, JFK's coconut, there are a few other notable objects but I'd have to dig a bit to get references in order. I'm torn on this but it just seem weird how it is currently written at the end of the presidents desk section. Maybe we just need to write it better so its more about the button in a historical context (what Bush used it for, then Obama, then Trump, then that Biden got rid of it). I'm just unsure what the best way of integrating this info is. I may try rewriting it tongiht before building a new section to see if that reads better. I'm worried a section devoted to objects may be just trivial, but would give us a good way of separating from the history.-- Found5dollar ( talk) 00:05, 26 January 2021 (UTC)
I'm reading Obama's new book A Promised Land and am sorry to report that I don't think there is anything in there we can use. He does describe the desk, on page 205: "... a gift from Queen Victoria in 1880, ornately carved from the hull of a British ship that a U.S. whaling crew helped salvage after a catastrophe, full of hidden drawers and nooks and with a central panel that pops open, delighting any child who has a chance to crawl through it." He also says he did most of his work as President at that desk, which is slightly interesting because many other presidents (Jimmy Carter for sure) did much of their actual work in the private office next door to the Oval Office, keeping the Resolute desk neat and tidy for visitors and photo ops. GA-RT-22 ( talk) 16:54, 14 March 2021 (UTC)
Incase we ever find room, here is an image of the Joiners Shop at Chatham Dockayrd where where William Evenden worked and the desk was likely built. Also, The British Museum has 4 hop tokens created by a William Evenden from roughly the same time period. [18] It might be from him, might not, but they are the only other objects I can find that he may have made.-- Found5dollar ( talk) 22:23, 17 April 2021 (UTC)
The article states that Morant, Boyd, & Blanford won the design competition. Why then does the article say that it was "probably" built in accordance with their design? Is there some reason to think that the builder did not follow it? Bill ( talk) 22:22, 6 August 2021 (UTC)
Having previously gone on record as being opposed to adding anything about items on the desk, I'll just throw this out: The phones in president Biden's Oval Office. It's mostly about Biden's phones but also talks about the Diet Coke button. GA-RT-22 ( talk) 23:32, 21 October 2021 (UTC)
Inehmo recently added two pictures, one of Obama and one of Carter, with their feet on the desk. I just want to start a conversation because I feel these photos, while well intentioned, are unnecessary. To get them to fit the images have to be so small they are not really legible. We also have pictures of both presidents using the desk elsewhere and we had a previous discussion about there being to many images of Obama already on the page. I concede that the picture of Obama with his feet on the desk does have historical significance, but I'm worried it is just too much for the page.-- Found5dollar ( talk) 20:50, 21 October 2022 (UTC)
Responding to a request at FAC talk, some comments on the article:
Resolute desk has been listed as one of the History good articles under the good article criteria. If you can improve it further, please do so. If it no longer meets these criteria, you can reassess it. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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This article is rated GA-class on Wikipedia's
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This article has been
mentioned by a media organization:
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Do we have any proper plans for this desk? How many drawers, etc? -- 75.28.165.32 22:32, 12 August 2006 (UTC)
There is some kind of mistake, under the HISTORY section and more particularly "A gift to the Queen", the sentence "The queen keeps it in Buckingham Palace in England." is wrong ... she keeps what in the Buckingham Palace??? The ship??? —Preceding
unsigned comment added by
62.103.212.80 (
talk) 12:26, 4 November 2008 (UTC)
I saw in Time Magazine today that FDR had added a trap door to the desk, though I could find nothing about this anywhere on Wikipedia. If this is in fact part of the desk I think this would make a great addition to this entry and possibly that of the Oval Office DegenFarang ( talk) 13:03, 18 November 2008 (UTC)
THARE WERE ONLY 5 PEOPLE —Preceding
unsigned comment added by
99.226.209.163 (
talk) 13:03, 9 November 2009 (UTC)
The article says that George H. W. Bush moved the desk out of the Oval Office, but later says that the desk has remained in the Oval Office since Carter's presidency. I don't know which is correct, but it should be fixed. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.218.195.141 ( talk) 12:13, 26 October 2009 (UTC)
The article claims that "The relationship between Britain and America was at a breaking point when Buddington salvaged Resolute. They were on the brink of their third war. President Pierce addressed Congress to say he had ceased to have diplomatic relations with Britain." Not only is this language un-encyclopedic, I can't find any references to these seemingly very noteworthy events elsewhere, such as on the United Kingdom – United States relations or Franklin Pierce pages. Definitely could use a few citations at least. Brian Tiemann ( talk) 01:08, 20 October 2010 (UTC)
Seems fitting that since Mrs. Kennedy had the Resolute Desk moved to the Oval Office, there should be included the famous picture of President Kennedy at the desk, with his son JFK Jr. using the lower door underneath it to peek out. Is there a reason this photo hasn't been included?
http://iconicphotos.wordpress.com/2010/09/03/john-f-kennedy-jnr-under-the-resolute-desk/
Gar2chan ( talk) 06:56, 22 February 2012 (UTC)
Does anyone know the dimensions of the desk. It would be nice if they were listed.-- Jamo58 ( talk) 09:05, 10 March 2013 (UTC)
The article states -- incorrectly, I believe -- that Queen V. had a similar "partners desk" made for herself. There are two "Resolute" desks of hers known, photos of one of which are in the Royal Collection -- it has a similar brass plaque to the Oval Office one -- the other was a small folding writing desk formerly used on the Royal Yacht and now in storage in Portsmouth. These, and the Grinnell desk at the New Bedford Whaling Museum, are the only other desks made from Resolute's timbers besides the Presidential one. Clevelander96 ( talk) 23:57, 21 May 2016 (UTC)
...it was Jackie Kennedy who brought the desk into the Oval Office...
That desk seems too heavy for Mrs. Kennedy personally to have brought it anywhere, so I reworded that sentence to "...it was Jackie Kennedy who had the desk brought into the Oval Office..." ☺ Dick Kimball ( talk) 16:41, 16 December 2016 (UTC)
Some confusion in this section about the various replica versions. Rewrote to clarify and added a paragraph on companies offering reproductions for sale. Relbats ( talk) 04:05, 28 March 2017 (UTC)
The article states that FDR had a panel added to conceal his leg braces. But the article makes no mention of FDR's use of the desk. As President, FDR used the Hoover desk in the Oval Office. So where did FDR use this desk? Could he have had it in the President's Study? Or did he have another office, like Nixon? — MiguelMunoz ( talk) 20:52, 7 August 2017 (UTC)
The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page has been nominated for speedy deletion:
You can see the reason for deletion at the file description page linked above. — Community Tech bot ( talk) 03:21, 12 June 2019 (UTC)
I found this quote in Carter's autobiography. [1] Maybe we can use part of it.
On the first day... I sat down at the President's desk and looked it over. It was a surprise to see that it was not the same one which had been photographed when John Kennedy was there, with his little son peeping out from the door underneath. My first decision: to replace this desk with the one I remembered.
— Preceding unsigned comment added by GA-RT-22 ( talk • contribs) 18:22, 3 December 2020 (UTC)
I put this in, without the quote. It's slightly at odds with our other source that says he made the choice over breakfast from a list of available desks. Maybe he went to the Oval Office first, decided he wanted JFK's desk, then had an aide bring in the list of desks while he ate breakfast? I think the interesting part is that he said it was his first decision. GA-RT-22 ( talk) 16:01, 18 January 2021 (UTC)
References
It would be nice if we could firm up the 19th century locations a bit. There is a photo of the desk in the Yellow Oval Room in 1886, then the 1899 photo appears to be in the Treaty Room, or at least not in the Oval Room. I believe the desk did not actually move in 1902; rather, the President's new office in the West Wing was opened, so what had been called the President's office now became his study.
I have so far been unable to find sources to verify any of this. GA-RT-22 ( talk) 21:41, 19 December 2020 (UTC)
@ GA-RT-22: Yeah I was unsure, I know that the Lincoln suite was used as an office for a while but not sure what the source means by "President's office" vs. "President's Study." I'll keep looking but my week is a bit crazy so I'm not sure how much ill actually get to.-- Found5dollar ( talk) 17:14, 20 December 2020 (UTC)
Tenant | years in office | Location/ image | referenced location in article |
---|---|---|---|
Rutherford B. Hayes | 1877-1881 | 1880, on exhibit to tourists in the Green Room "for a while before ordering it taken upstairs to his office". (Seale, William. The President's House. White House Historical Association and the National Geographic Society: 1986. p 494 & 1111) | President's Office Second floor of the White House |
James A. Garfield | 1881 | ||
Chester A. Arthur | 1881-1885 | ||
Grover Cleveland | 1885-1889 | White House, It's Historic Furnishings... pp. 169-170. his office( Yellow Oval Room) 1886 | |
Benjamin Harrison | 1889-1893 | [2] Office ( Lincoln Bedroom) this was written by Harrison but in 1897... Thsi cite says it was moved from yellow oval room to lincoln bedroom in October 1890. [3] pp. 223-224 | |
Grover Cleveland | 1893-1897 | [4] 1890, [5] 1896 President's Library or President's Room ( Yellow Oval Room) | |
William McKinley | 1897-1901 | Seale, William. The President's House. White House Historical Association and the National Geographic Society: 1986. p 631. Presidents office ( Yellow Oval Room) [6] 1900 President's Room (but cant say for sure what the room is now) 1899 Lincoln Bedroom | |
Theodore Roosevelt | 1901-1902 | [7] 1901 President's Room ( Lincoln Bedroom) | |
Theodore Roosevelt | 1902-1909 | Seale, William. The President's House. White House Historical Association and the National Geographic Society: 1986. p 690 "President's Study" [8] Den ( Treaty Room). After McKim Mead and White's renovation the former cabinet room became Roosevelt's den where Edith Roosevelt placed the desk | President's Study (now
Yellow Oval Room) Second floor of the White House |
William Howard Taft | 1909-1913 | Treaty Room | |
Woodrow Wilson | 1913-1921 | Seale, William. The President's House. White House Historical Association and the National Geographic Society: 1986. p. 801, 812-813. The President's Study. ( Treaty Room). "The Drawer" of the desk is where important communications were placed if somethign went down between end of the day and Wilson starting work again. | |
Warren G. Harding | 1921-1923 | ||
Calvin Coolidge | 1923-1929 | ||
Herbert Hoover | 1929-1933 | [9] image 14. rectangular room with two windows facing Washington Monument ( Lincoln Bedroom? or possibly Treaty Room) | |
Franklin D. Roosevelt | 1933-1945 | [10] Oval Study ( Yellow Oval Room) | |
Harry S. Truman | 1945-1948 | [11] Oval Study ( Yellow Oval Room) |
The Smithsonian seems to think the desk was given to them in 1964, and subsequently loaned to Carter for use at the White House. [12] Maybe it doesn't really matter since it's all part of the US govt. GA-RT-22 ( talk) 18:28, 3 January 2021 (UTC)
I commented out the sentence: "This presidential seal would later be changed by Harry S. Truman to have the eagle turned towards the olive branch in the right talon instead." I checked the pics of the given source, but there is no one with showing that. Also, Obama sitting at the desk, with eagle facing to the right talon, so it would mean, after Truman sy changed it back... Does not seem true, that the eagle was ever changed. JSoos ( talk) 12:01, 7 January 2021 (UTC)
@ Found5dollar: Please give better source, and explain how it was changed back! JSoos ( talk) 20:44, 7 January 2021 (UTC)
@ Found5dollar: I tried. Yes I misunderstood. Mainly because it said "This seal" was changed and not generally the seal. JSoos ( talk) 21:21, 7 January 2021 (UTC)
So I've been trying to research who William Evenden was but am coming up a little empty beyond "he worked at Chatham Dockyards as a joiner and made the desk." The only other reference I can find to a William Evenden at Chatham is from a labor movement speech on December 13, 1836 at the dockyards. [14] [15] That William Evenden spoke about the problems with the class system and the need for a living wage for all that worked at the dockyard. Both of these William Evendens have the same name, worked at the same dockyard, and had the same job being a joiner. The issue is that the speech and making the desk happened 43 years apart. If this is the same William Evenden I think it bears mention in the article that he held these views, but 43 years is a long time to be working in a dockyard, especially in the 1800's. Do we think it is the same person? Thoughts?-- Found5dollar ( talk) 16:00, 17 January 2021 (UTC)
I just removed this image added by Randy Kryn to the article. As i have been curating which images to include of the desk I have been looking for images that 1)show the desk in different locations 2)show the desk from different angles and 3)show the desk at different moments important in the history of the object. This image was placed directly above another one showing the side of the desk at almost the exact same angle, there are already 4 other images of the desk in the Oval Office, and there is no connection between this moment of talking with astronauts and the history or meaning of the desk. Also, the placement of the image shifts down the image below it causing text sandwiching. per MOS:SANDWICH "Multiple images can be staggered right and left. However, avoid sandwiching text between two images that face each other; or between an image and infobox, navigation template, or similar." These reasons lead me to believe this image, while a nice picture, adds nothing to the article and actually takes away from it's legibility.-- Found5dollar ( talk) 20:35, 17 January 2021 (UTC)
Unless other reasoning can be found, I will remove this image on or after January 20th, the last day Trump is in office, as the only described reason to keep it included is because Trump is the current president. This argument is no longer valid once he is no longer president. Found5dollar ( talk) 15:25, 18 January 2021 (UTC)
The plaque is starting to bother me. If you look at the intricate carving, it seems unlikely that they would have moved the plaque. It would have meant destroying the carving on one side to make a recess for the plaque, and producing new carving on the other side. It seems more likely that the entire piece was swapped, or even more likely that the desk was simply turned around, given that the two sides are nearly identical.
If you look at the Taft photo, it sure looks like he had the desk set up so he could sit on the plaque side. And John Hay is clearly sitting on the plaque side in File:John Hay signs Treaty of Paris, 1899.JPG.
The problem with the theory that the plaque stayed and the desk swapped sides is that the door is clearly on the plaque side in the JFK Jr photo, but the door is on the non-plaque side in the Smithsonian photo. So if the plaque didn't move, the door had to. GA-RT-22 ( talk) 22:18, 17 January 2021 (UTC)
I just came across The Button: President Biden has button used to order Diet Coke removed from Oval Office’s Resolute Desk Kind of interesting. But I'm inclined to say it's too trivial to mention in the article. GA-RT-22 ( talk) 13:55, 22 January 2021 (UTC)
With all the hullabloo about the Diet Coke button, do we start a new section in this article about objects on the desk? This button, JFK's coconut, there are a few other notable objects but I'd have to dig a bit to get references in order. I'm torn on this but it just seem weird how it is currently written at the end of the presidents desk section. Maybe we just need to write it better so its more about the button in a historical context (what Bush used it for, then Obama, then Trump, then that Biden got rid of it). I'm just unsure what the best way of integrating this info is. I may try rewriting it tongiht before building a new section to see if that reads better. I'm worried a section devoted to objects may be just trivial, but would give us a good way of separating from the history.-- Found5dollar ( talk) 00:05, 26 January 2021 (UTC)
I'm reading Obama's new book A Promised Land and am sorry to report that I don't think there is anything in there we can use. He does describe the desk, on page 205: "... a gift from Queen Victoria in 1880, ornately carved from the hull of a British ship that a U.S. whaling crew helped salvage after a catastrophe, full of hidden drawers and nooks and with a central panel that pops open, delighting any child who has a chance to crawl through it." He also says he did most of his work as President at that desk, which is slightly interesting because many other presidents (Jimmy Carter for sure) did much of their actual work in the private office next door to the Oval Office, keeping the Resolute desk neat and tidy for visitors and photo ops. GA-RT-22 ( talk) 16:54, 14 March 2021 (UTC)
Incase we ever find room, here is an image of the Joiners Shop at Chatham Dockayrd where where William Evenden worked and the desk was likely built. Also, The British Museum has 4 hop tokens created by a William Evenden from roughly the same time period. [18] It might be from him, might not, but they are the only other objects I can find that he may have made.-- Found5dollar ( talk) 22:23, 17 April 2021 (UTC)
The article states that Morant, Boyd, & Blanford won the design competition. Why then does the article say that it was "probably" built in accordance with their design? Is there some reason to think that the builder did not follow it? Bill ( talk) 22:22, 6 August 2021 (UTC)
Having previously gone on record as being opposed to adding anything about items on the desk, I'll just throw this out: The phones in president Biden's Oval Office. It's mostly about Biden's phones but also talks about the Diet Coke button. GA-RT-22 ( talk) 23:32, 21 October 2021 (UTC)
Inehmo recently added two pictures, one of Obama and one of Carter, with their feet on the desk. I just want to start a conversation because I feel these photos, while well intentioned, are unnecessary. To get them to fit the images have to be so small they are not really legible. We also have pictures of both presidents using the desk elsewhere and we had a previous discussion about there being to many images of Obama already on the page. I concede that the picture of Obama with his feet on the desk does have historical significance, but I'm worried it is just too much for the page.-- Found5dollar ( talk) 20:50, 21 October 2022 (UTC)
Responding to a request at FAC talk, some comments on the article: